Switching from joint account to sole account

KitKat77

Hi.

My partner and I have separated and closing our household bills account. Does anyone know if I can do a switch from a joint account to a sole account so I can take advantage of the welcome bonus?

Many thanks

soulsaver

KitKat77 wrote: »

Hi.

My partner and I have separated and closing our household bills account. Does anyone know if I can do a switch from a joint account to a sole account so I can take advantage of the welcome bonus?

Many thanks

I believe it's not allowed using CASS because of the legal implications of joint responsibility for the assets and liabilities of a joint account.


You can convert the joint to a solo, but you'll probably both need to attend in branch together. Check with your bank as it may not always be the case.

Or you can open a 'donor' account and switch that to get the incentive.

PRAISETHESUN

You won't be able to switch from a joint account to a sole account without first taking the second name off your account. The other option would be to open a second account in your sole name at the bank you hold your joint account with and then use that for switch incentives, as mentioned above.

xylophone

Open a sole account with the bank where you are holding the joint account.

Transfer your share of the joint account into the sole account.

Your partner does likewise.

You close the joint account.

You switch your sole account to a bank offering an incentive.

Terry_Towelling

Don't know the 'ins and outs' of your split but I think it is imperative that the joint account be emptied and closed (preferably with both of you present in branch). Overkill maybe, but you need to be quite certain that it has been closed with a zero balance and that there are no cheques/debit cards in circulation. The last thing you want is someone running it into overdraft and then disappearing over the hills leaving you as a soft target to pursue for the debt.

RaspberryBaskingShark

I can only speak for Natwest, but I assume most high street banks are similar: when I dealt with this issue a couple of years ago we didn’t have to attend the branch together but we both had to have signed a document stating we were happy for it to be converted to a sole account (and stipulating who would be the sole account owner and who was being removed). I emailed the form to my ex and he signed and then posted it back to me. Natwest insist both parties must sign in order for one to be removed so you cannot just remove yourself from an account without both parties agreeing.

However, in my case when we split my ex agreed to take over getting in touch with the provider for our internet/electricity etc to let them know we had moved out and settle the accounts, but as he was disorganised he didn’t do this within the time frame he’d agreed to and as he was slow on returning the form to take me off the account I didn’t want to risk a load of bills from accounts that he had agreed to close down suddenly coming out while I was still responsible for the account. So after a fair warning, when he still hadn’t done the admin he’d agreed to with utility companies and the bank form I went into my local branch and asked them to freeze the account, which they did.

This gave me peace of mind knowing that nothing would take the account overdrawn while he slowly got things sorted, I eventually got his form to close the account (which I asked him to sign first and then me second so I had control over knowing when it was shut down due to his faffing around with the utilities), went into the bank, unfroze the account and removed myself.

As it stands, the bank made an error and didn’t close it down when they agreed to which meant a delay of a few days between my request to unfreeze and it actually taking me off the account, which led to exactly what I was afraid of: a sudden load of bills (£2k! Which were after we’d already paid what we owed up until leaving the property but he didn’t notify them we’d left) coming out and taking us £2k overdrawn with no overdraft facility, meaning the bank then decided they couldn’t remove me even though the account was at zero on the day I went to remove myself.

I made a complaint and they sorted it really efficiently, put the account back to zero by recalling the payments, removed me and the rest was my ex’s problem to deal with between him and the utility companies. And they gave me some financial compensation for their error and the emotional stress and time it took to try and sort it all out.

This stuff can get really sticky OP, even though my ex and I were amicable we had different ideas about how quickly we both wanted it sorting and so although freezing the account felt like quite an incendiary move to him I felt it was the only way to protect myself in the meantime and it was after a fair amount of time and warning, I had done everything we’d agreed I’d do to wrap practical matters up and I couldn’t do his half on top of it because some of the utilities were only in his name. I couldn’t have just left it open racking up an unplanned overdraft which would have then prevented me from being removed.

A lot of the fine details will depend on your bank so get in touch ASAP, in the case of Natwest you can download the document online to fill out before taking it in which saves time so try google the name of your bank and ‘convert joint to sole account’ for further information.

colsten

Thanks for sharing your experience, RaspberryBaskingShark. It's just as well you were switched on and determined enough to sort the issue - well done! Your story should serve as a warning to all those who think of rushing into setting up joint accounts (not that I am suggesting you ever rushed into it) - even when there's an amicable split, financial matters can get rather complicated to sort out.

RaspberryBaskingShark

I agree, it really astonishes me when people give access to large sums of their money to their partner too, like keeping all of their savings in a joint account that could quickly and legally be emptied with no recourse. I’m not a distrustful person in general but I do strongly believe you can never know someone or predict their behaviour 100% and it’s just smart to be cautious. Luckily my ex wasn’t causing trouble for the sake of it but had i not really taken control and frozen the account I’d have been thousands into an unplanned o/d that neither of us could afford to repay before exiting the account

It’s just not what you need when you’re emotionally trying to work through the break up and could have a real detrimental impact on your credit record making it even harder to move on practically if you’re rejected for a new rental or mortgage. I really hope the OP gets sorted!